Me and My Broken Heart
by MidnightDawn999
Summary: Something comes after Rob - something unexpected and devastating, because some monsters prey on broken hearts. (Title comes from a Rixton song.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello... Well, this is already finished, and just needs to be posted. Probably will be posted one chapter every day. Um... Yeah. **

**CO-WRITTEN WITH A FRIEND. **

** Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**THE title comes from a Rixton song!**

**God bless!**

Morning sun filtered down on the cars moving across the street. Ravens hung onto the roof's edge, cackling boldly.

Rob left for his second cup, not to mention grabbing one for Flash. Galen and Rhiannon had left a few days before for a hunt – and Rob and Flash had stayed to take care of one there. Normally, Rob preferred hunting with only his brother, it seemed more correct, as it felt more like being _Custodes Noctis_. Of course, so much had changed, since The Hunt, and now living with half a heart. Hey, but it had proved to be good for a few sarcastic jokes that had earned incredulous looks from his older sibling.

Yet, circumstances had prevented hunting together this time. Now, their ghoul was pushing daisies, and Galen's werewolf a few hours away was nearing its end.

He stopped his train of thought when he saw Becci. "Wow," he breathed.

"Rob! You like it? Can you guess the theme?" she was asking enthusiastically, already starting to make the coffees.

Rob's eyes flicked down then back up, "Yeah." He shook his head. "What's the theme?"

Becci giggled. "Medieval."

"Nice."

"Here!"

Smiling, Rob took them, and went back to the shop, the ravens following in after him. He took a sip of the drink, and set Flash's down on the counter.

A brief discomfort blossomed in his chest, uncomfortable pulses with each beat of his heart. He hummed, and shook his head, ignoring it.

Flash came stalking around one of the shelves, a contemplative frown on his face. "My keys-they're missing. Again. I'm pretty sure it's those birds," he growled as he came to a stop and pointed out one of the windows.

"You blame them for all your problems, Flash," Rob grinned brilliantly. He took another drink, picking up a book from the desk and slamming it shut with one hand. He'd picked up one of Galen's books, something he'd never read before surprisingly enough, and for a while it had used up some time where he couldn't find something else to do.

Flash grunted and shrugged, moving toward one of the coffees on the counter. "Yeah, because all my problems are their fault. Unemployment? Their bad!" He waved a hand in the air to emphasize what he was saying.

Rob laughed. He gulped down more of the strong beverage, before setting it on the table. They were pretty much just waiting for someone to come in today. Rob had to wonder why business was so slow today, but maybe it was because, by now, everyone had figured out Galen was out of town.

His heart squeezed in on itself, turning into a ball of throbbing pain. He shook his head, frowning.

Flash-who was still ranting about birds-didn't notice. He kept talking, up until the point he was pacing back and forth, really just ranting to himself.

Rob placed a hand over his heart. His breathing was becoming shorter, until his lungs felt as though being compacted inside of him. Back muscles tightening into painful knots, his hands shook, until the cup slipped through his fingers. "Flash..." Rob groaned.

Flash glanced over at Rob and stopped his pacing, then realizing something was wrong. Of course, being that he had no idea what it was, he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do. "What? What's going on?" he asked, his voice half between worried and more worried than just kinda worried.

Rob made a soft noise, both hands clutching at his chest - slate blue eyes searched for Flash's, panic settling beneath their depths. He took a wobbly step backwards, legs turning to heavy weights under him and sending him falling backwards. His back collided against a shelf of charms and amulets, which fell crashing on top of him.

Flash's eyes widened, and for a moment, the shop was silent... that is, after the amulets and charms finished falling all over the floor. Flash blinked, and the whole world seemed to come back to reality.

"What the...?" Flash blurted, charging forward and pulling the shelf off of his friend, and then pulling Rob off the floor. Flash started half-panicking. He didn't have any idea what was going on... and being friends with Galen and Rob... well, the first things on his mind were all magical things that he had no idea how to deal with.

"Not good." Flash mumbled as he literally kept Rob from falling right back onto the floor. Galen was a state away-leaving Flash alone to deal with whatever "this" was. "I'm calling an ambulance," Flash stated between curses as he clumsily retrieved his phone with a free hand.

Pain. Sweet oblivion didn't seem to come for Rob. At least, not soon enough. Yet, he knew what that would mean at this point - he forced his eyes to stay open as long as he could, it would only make things worse, Flash was already panicking.

Agony burned across his torso, and he tried to catch his breath. Fear and confusion took their place on his face. "G'ln?"

The strangest look crossed his face. "Help me?" he squeaked with all the air his malfunctioning organs would grant. Normally Galen healed him. What happened? Was his brother okay? Had Rob done something? Was It back?

Was Galen dead?

"Galen's fine, you're gonna be fine. You better be fine," he growled out, trying to keep the worry out of his voice as he spoke.

With one foot, Flash pulled over a chair, lowered Rob onto it, then dialed 9-1-1. He vaguely thought that when Rob was better, he'd be livid that Flash had called an ambulance, but what was he supposed to do? Meanwhile, his free hand hovered over Rob's shoulder and Flash cursed the feeling of uselessness that seemed intent on eating him alive.

Finally, the call was picked up. The operator asked him the oh-so-familiar, "What is your emergency?" question. Flash related it quickly, between curses and through frustrated desperation. The operator calmly told him to remain calm, paramedics (Who don't get paid enough) were on their way. Meanwhile, the woman began asking what EXACTLY was happening.

At that point, Flash was forcing himself to stay calm, because he knew that he had to-because one of them had to. Flash was on his knees next to Rob, just repeating that everything was gonna be okay, and to keep breathing. Meanwhile, he was wondering if that was actually the truth at all. His mind was racing, and he started to wonder if something had happened to Galen, and he was dying, and therefore, Rob was dying too-and that thought terrified Flash. He couldn't live with the thought that he might be watching his friend die.

Rob's heart fluttered, and for a terrifying moment he realized he could feel it weakening. People said death would just come at you, but from his experience, he seemed to feel every second it crept closer.

His head fell backwards, his neck exposed as he gasped. He leaned forward again, his body trembling. He curled in on himself, pressing his upper body against his legs with bone-crushing strength. His arms were shoved even closer, as if he could reach his heart, perhaps he could lessen the burning.

Chest cramping, and his heart continuing to spasm.

And he screamed.

**So, what'cha think? Want more? **


	2. Chapter 2

**hank you for reading! Sorry for the delay, a few paragraphs went missing... Hmm... O.o **

**God bless!**

It was only a short while until the ambulance arrived, and from there, Flash watched helplessly as the paramedics rushed in, and rushed back out, with Rob. Thankfully, Flash was allowed in the ambulance, if he stayed out of the way and quiet, which he promised he would do.

So there he was, sitting silently as he watched a paramedic doing who knew what to Rob, just to keep him from dying on the way to the hospital, while Flash sat there imagining all the awful things that could be, or were happening, and why this was going on, and what exactly had caused this, and why... why did Galen have to be gone when this happened, and was Galen even all right? Was Galen even ALIVE? Because... Because...

Because if Galen was dead, then Rob was too, and no one could save him, and Flash knew that... but he wasn't just going to start believing that-ever.

Rob was in a horrible darkness. There were no hues from the Sight, no hum of the bond, nothing but a brokenness in the dark. A torn heart, a Sightless seer, a brother-less Keeper.

The smell of rotten meat and sweet sickness swirled from memories past, the greying of skin in death, a shimmering black pool surrounded by silver light, black creatures hiding in the light, quaking rocks.

A light shone into his subconscious - or more correctly his now opened eye, then the other, leaving shapes of vague colors dancing behind eyelids.

Flash watched the EMT flash a light into Rob's eyes. He was tempted to tell the medic that there was nothing wrong with his eyes, but he knew that wouldn't help. He knew he should keep his mouth shut, like he'd been told to do. So that was what he did as he sat nervously out of the medics way.

Flash could hear the siren wailing as they sped through the streets. He'd often heard the sound, but he had not often been so close to the situation, or cause of the sound. He never really thought about what the siren's on an ambulance meant. It meant someone's life was right on the edge... somewhere on a fine line between the complicated world that was life, and the darkness that was death. The sirens meant that someone in the world was trusting their life to another that they would likely never know-for one reason or another... and right then, all that thinking was just too much, and Flash hated over thinking things.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and then letting his head drop into his hands. He breathed tensely, wondering how in the world he was supposed to get through this, and why hadn't he made "safer" friends whose most dangerous habits or happenings were going out to a bar on a Friday night and getting too drunk. But no, he'd become friends with Keepers... MONSTER hunters who were nearly always getting themselves killed, and had talking pet birds.

The ravens-he suddenly wondered were they were, because they would know. They definitely would have noticed, and those two bird-though annoying-would definitely be worried.

Rob could hear mumbling somewhere close to him, noises that sounded like unintelligent grumblings.

There was a flash of pain, and then nothing, just a timeless, hollow pit.

Then something ran through his body, it felt hot and cold at the same time, like tendrils of pure ice and fire.

Darkness.

Pressure on and off his ribs.

Things had gone from bad to worse, and now Flash was watching in fear, anger, and desperation as the paramedic did CPR on Rob-who apparently had actually died for a second, if one counted one's heart stopping as dying.

Flash found himself muttering, "You don't get to die, not today. Don't you dare. Get back here, you hear me? You don't get to die."

The medic finally stopped, and looked back at Flash with a nod and a not-so-reassuring expression, though he did state that Rob's heart had started again.

They'd already asked Flash questions about what had been happening, but he'd been so out of it that he'd not been well able to answer them. He'd done his best, but nothing had really stood out, and so... they were going to a hospital, the one place on earth that Rob seemed to hate more than everywhere else-but Flash didn't care about Rob's "Feelings" at that point, just as long as he lived.

Rob could feel something covering his mouth and nose, something that smelled of plastic and felt claustrophobic. His body refused to answer his commands, and fear shot through him in seemingly continuous waves.

Until the darkness came, and took him away once more.

Flash sighed tiredly, and leaned back, staying out of the way, and rather wishing he could restart the last week, and keep Galen from leaving, because then this wouldn't be happening.

*******TIMEWARP******

Bright light, and distinctly familiar - horribly so - smells. Hospital, some part of his brain supplied. Beeping, a constant noise, but for some reason, it sounded different this time. As if something was just a tiny bit different, barely noticeable.

A whoosh. His chest rose and fell without permission. Something was snaked down his throat, suffocating in its nature. His eyes flew open, and he attempted to move - only to find his wrists held down by restraints.

He tried to choke out Galen's name, but only managed in a horrible gagging. Panicked eyes widened, growing suspiciously wet.

Even beyond the drugs so obviously filling his system, his body ached and throbbed, a constant pressure in his back and chest, a thrumming in his head.

Flash jerked upright. He had been half-asleep, sitting in a chair beside the bed. He was pulled into consciousness by the sudden noise beside him.

"Hey, hey, easy..." Flash stated, moving into Rob's line of sight. "Chill. I called Galen. He's really mad, and freaked, and FINE... Calm down. I'll explain stuff, mkay? Just... calm down, d mnit." Clearly, Flash was worried, and trying to hide it. His hands were shaking, so he jammed them into his pockets.

Rob wanted to reply, he wanted to breathe in air probably faster than healthy, and more than that - he needed the fogginess of the drugs to leave. Flash's words were hard to understand, muddled.

All that really clicked was, Galen was fine.

Another *Click* *Whoosh*. His lungs filled. A feeding tube was in his nose, connected to one of the many machines or bags beside him.

He choked again, eyes never leaving Flash. If he looked away again, all he would see would be machinery, bags, tubes - the hospital, and every reason that he couldn't just run back out of the doors like everything inside of him wanted to do.

Flash sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "Yup, Galen's fine, and he's coming back. But he's gonna be really mad at you. Know why? I do." Flash paused to take a deep breath, as all of that had been spoken with one breath of air. "Know why you almost DIED? Yeah, you caused it. Your coffee addiction. Know what heart arrhythmia is? I think that's what they called it. But anyway... you know what that is? It's something bad, and caffeine makes it worse, or something... I'm not a doctor, but that wasn't cool."

Rob frowned, and attempted to swallow. Needless to say it didn't work. Heart Arrhythmia? Speaking of hearts, his plummeted. *Click* *Whoosh* *Beep beep, beep beep*

He stared, blinking like an owl - not like he was allowed to do much else.

Flash glanced around the room, stood up, scrubbed a hand over his face, then sat back down again. "I..." he stopped talking for several seconds, trying to decide what in the world he was going to say. What would he want to hear if roles were reversed? He sighed loudly. "I'm sorry." He knew it wasn't his fault, and that just made him feel stupid for even saying it, but what was he supposed to say?

"You scared me, know that? I was pretty—Well, I was pretty sure of bad stuff, and you better be sorry for that, because... yeah. So... yeah."

Flash really hated that he had to be the circus monkey. But he had to do it. Rob wasn't going anywhere... couldn't. He wasn't going to say anything either... also because he couldn't. So Flash was going to—because that's what friends did.

"Did you know I had braces as a kid?" he began.

Rob quirked his eyebrows, the look on his face sardonic.

"Aha! I see you judging me!" Flash stated, smiling. This didn't have to be awkward. That just proved it. So Flash jumped into his story. "Yup, little Alvin had braces. Alvin was a weird-looking kid. Flash and Alvin are two totally different people, by the way... anyway..." Flash started off his story explaining what he looked like, and what he thought of braces, and then finally got to the "good part" as he called it.

"So, when they FINALLY took those darn things off, they poured this... like... gooey, icky, clay-dough into my mouth," he pulled a face, looking completely disgusted, "to get a mold of my teeth, ya know, for my retainer? Yeah, well, it was gross... anyway. So, I have a retainer, and when you've had braces, you always have to have a retainer. You just put it in at night, before you sleep... mkay? So..." Flash grinned again.

"Okay, here's where the best part of the story starts." He leaned forward slightly. "So, I put it in... and sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night, and I PANIC! Dunno why, but sometimes, I take it out when I'm half asleep, and I HIDE it from myself! Sometimes I only THINK I hide it, when really, it's still in my mouth. ANyway, so... one time, I woke up in a fit, right? ANd I was searching high and low. Looked under my pillow, in the floor, all over... Finally, I turned really fast, about to get out of bed to go turn on the light, and it SMACKED me in the face! I hid my retainer... in my hair!" He threw both arms out to his sides and snorted, rolling his eyes at himself and smirking.

Rob gave him a sarcastic, amused look, lips twitching up around the ventilator.

Flash shrugged and smiled. "Laughing at my panic, huh?" He was the comic relief-slash-distraction . He quickly ran through other things that happened, trying to come up with a second story that would at least be sort of amusing.

"AH! Okay, so, I got another one, if you think you can handle the awesomeness."

Blue eyes rolled in response. He decided the worst part of the ventilator in the moment, had to go to taking away speech. Second went hands down to the constant-choking, and near gag-reflexes.

Flash guessed what Rob was thinking about. He had to admit, he wouldn't trade places, but he could tease... he didn't know if he should, or should hold off on that.

"Okay, so, you know Galen's band? 'Course you do. The Urban Werewolves... Don't know why he picked that name." Flash huffed, then went on. "Anyway, we were playing a gig." Flash started laughing before he could even get to the story. "Okay, this one's gonna be harder to explain." He grinned. "So, we were on stage, and let me just start out with this... never flip an electric base. It wasn't my idea, but I thought, hey, it could work, right? I mean, if you try hard enough, you can flip a guitar, and an electric base is like a guitar, right? No, wrong. So, when you plan on doing that, always find out where you are in relation to your band mates..." He paused in his story to laugh, then went on, "More specifically, your guitarist."

He started laughing, and had to give himself a second before he went on with his story. he guessed Rob could already guess what had happened, but Flash was gonna finish this story if it took all night.

"So, I flipped it, right? Had NO idea Galen was behind me... Needless to say, it was a DISASTER! I clobbered him with the base, and the entire band was like dominoes, Galen knocked over the next guy, and it just went down the line right? Needless to say, we were less of a band, more a group of comedians that day. Dang, Galen probably would'a killed me if there hadn't been so many witnesses." Flash chuckled.

Rob made a sound like a dying mouse around the tube in his mouth, eyes changing from dullness to sparkling. Air being forced into him allowed another huffing, squeaking laugh.

Flash grinned a lopsided smile and gulped quietly, feeling a little guilty-like, survivor's guilt, but more like uninjured-man's-guilt. Still, he was glad that he was doing some good, not sitting there making things worse than they already were-so he was cool with it.

"Yeah, you may think it's funny, but Galen'd probably kill me if he knew I told you-which reminds me. Don't tell him I told you. You know how he gets with that stuff." He laughed then grinned. "Speaking of stories he might kill me for telling... He's probably never told you about the..." smile "...Jeep vs. Greg Vs. Galen, incident, has he?"

Rob's eyes continued to shine. He tilted his head as far as he could, arching an eyebrow. Before Flash got to finish his story, a doctor walked inside of the room holding a clip board - a doctor who so happened to be Mike.

"I'm going to assume you both know about the Heart Arryhthmia. We had to implant a pacemaker - an artificial device for stimulating the heart muscle and regulating its contractions. The ventilator was for your lungs, they stopped working properly when your heart did. The restraints were incase you woke up, it wasn't safe for a medically induced coma, and you could pull out the vent." Mike's explanation was short.

"Now Flash - you're going to tell me *everything* about what happened to his heart."

Mike removed the restraints from Rob's wrists, then explained a few more things that he didn't catch - before leaving the room. Rob sank farther into the bed, and for a moment, he let himself imagine the bond hadn't been destroyed - that he could talk to Galen instead of being so trapped inside.

**So - a bit of humor in here, lets just say staying up until four in the morning talking about Flash, retainers, and miss-communicated Bass instrument misshaps.. **

**So, let us just end on the note that Heart Arrhythmia is bad - and that maybe one day it will no longer lurk around every corner.**

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay - here is chapter three. One more chapter to go! Guess it was like a... short fic. A literal short story, or something. Anyways. Enjoy!**

Galen fidgeted in the passenger seat of the jeep while Rhiannon drove. He wasn't exactly feeling like driving, and decided it was unwise anyway. Only hours ago, he'd nearly dropped dead for no apparent reason—well, it had been apparent to him. Instantly, he'd been worried about Rob. Flash's desperate call minutes later had been enough to have Galen leaving before finishing the hunt. The werewolf would have to wait. Rhiannon had insisted on coming back with him, and they'd left the hunt to someone else.

Galen stared out the window through dazed green eyes. He was forcing the bond open as much as he possibly could, but it was like looking through mist, or calling someone and getting the answering machine. There was someone on the other end, but no answer.

Rhiannon glanced sideways at him. "Honey, you gonna be all right?"

Galen turned tired eyes toward his long-time friend. "No. Not until Rob is." He knew he sounded exhausted and miserable. He was. But he also knew he should at least try to sound semi-pleasant. "I'm sorry, it's just..." he swallowed hard and ran both hands over his face and leaned back in the seat.

Rhiannon nodded, and looked back out the front windshield. "We're an hour out, I can get there in half."

Galen tried to smile. It almost worked. "I know you can. That's why you're driving." He sighed almost silently, then went back to staring out the window. "I shouldn't have left so soon after..." He stopped talking and started muttering under his breath. That, of course, only forced him to think more about his brother, as Rob was always muttering, talking to himself, or lost in conversation with someone who wasn't there.

"Rhiannon, Flash said it was bad. He thought... he thought I was dead, and..."

The woman listened in silence, waiting for him to either say what he wanted to, or to make a decision of the future - because, he always seemed to do one of the two when his sentences were left hanging.

Just then, Galen's phone rang. He picked it up, nearly dropped it, cursed, then finally managed to get a grip on it. He glanced at the caller I.D. It was Flash. That was either good, or very bad. He swallowed loudly and answered. Flash proceeded to go into more detail, though he explained it in his own way, which didn't always make sense. Galen listened in tense silence.

"H-heart arrhythmia?" Galen stuttered quietly.

"Yeah, it's..."

"I know what it is, Flash," Galen whispered in response. "Rob almost killed himself..."

Flash stayed silent, and Galen decided that was for the best.

"I warned him... Flash, is he awake?"

"No, and yes, but, can I just say it's really complicated?"

"What?" Galen hissed out, closing his eyes and forcing some manner of calm.

"Like I said, sorta no."

"FLASH..."

"Galen, don't yell at me! I'm freaked out enough!"

"Sorry, sorry..." He sighed and waited.

"Yeah, me too. Just get here. I'm telling all your embarrassing stories until you do. And, Rob's gonna be fine."

Though it was a statement, Galen could hear the question in the words. He could hear Flash asking if Rob was all right. Would he be okay? So Galen did all he could do. "Yeah, Flash, he will be."

"Okay, get here, got it?" Flash asked.

"Yeah, soon. Bye." He ended the call and set the phone on the dashboard.

Rhiannon turned onto a new road, pressing down the horn impatiently as someone decided to take a nap in the same lane. She mumbled something under her breath, looking out the rear view mirror.

Generally, Galen did appreciate Rhiannon's *ahem* driving. But he had no complaints at this point. He glanced over at her to see the calm, determined expression she wore. She always looked that way. She seemed not to be afraid of anything. He was more than grateful to have friends like her.

"Rhiannon? Thank you..."

Rhiannon nodded. "Thank me when we get to Rob..."

Galen nodded and smiled slightly. "I don't just mean for driving. I mean... for being there when we need you."

"Of course, Honey. You helped me - and our 'parties' do help me as well," Rhiannon gave a feral smile, like a tigress readying to pounce for the kill. The hunts that she came along on were what she referred to.

Galen nodded once. He turned his attention back to the window, which steamed up with every breath he breathed. The landscape would disappear for a moment, then return when the window chilled again. The sky was dark, and the trees looked like monsters passing by the jeep at breakneck speed. Everywhere he looked there were monsters of one kind or another. They were either literal, or simply monsters that plagued his dreams. It was part of his life, and he couldn't escape it. He'd seen first hand what trying to escape his life had caused...

**God bless!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, no one is reviewing or keeping up with his, but hey, I'm still going to post this.**

Flash stayed in the hospital room, after having lied to a doctor about being related. They'd tried to make him leave, but he'd promised both Rob and Galen that he wasn't going anywhere, so... yeah, he'd bent the truth a LITTLE, but even though he wasn't blood, he WAS family, and that meant he'd do anything for them.

So there he was, at-he glanced up at the clock-at twelve o'clock, midnight, exactly, sitting in a hospital room. He'd spent the past few hours alternating between talking to Mike, Galen-during several complicated phone calls-and Rob. Flash was doing his best to be the entertaining friend, when Rob wasn't totally out of it, and it wasn't easy. It was actually very hard. Because Mike was a grouch, Galen, he was a billion times worse, even though he didn't mean to be, and Flash understood why. And Rob was just plain miserable-also understandable. And Flash, by this time, was just worn out.

Becci had come by, and that was something. Then some other guy came, then more other people, and Flash had ended up shooing them all away a while ago to let Rob rest-Mike's orders. Now, he was just... sort of, waiting, and talking quietly about how-when all this blew over-they were going to have to start paying him big bucks for all the things he did.

Rob opened his eyes into slits. Whirs filled his mind, and he wished that Galen were there. He didn't want more drugs to force him into dreamless sleep, and didn't want to feel like he'd been shot by an AK-47.

The younger Emrys brother let his eyes slide shut once more. He made a sound like a whimper in the back of his throat, swallowing convulsively. Water moved up the feeding tube, pushing down into his stomach.

Flash's attention was pulled back to Rob, and away from his muttering. "Hey. You didn't miss much-other than like, eight people. Okay, so you missed something. Apparently, you've got more friends than I do. Anyway... yeah. Good news. Galen called. He's close, and Rhiannon's driving, which means, like... REALLY close."

Rob stared at Flash. His eyes watered, and he blinked, until something hot ran down his cheek. Another whir, and oxygen was forced into non-cooperative lungs.

Flash pulled the plastic hospital chair closer to the head of the bed and sat down quietly. "I know I'm not Galen, and I kinda suck at this whole hospital thing..." He looked into blue eyes, intentionally ignoring the obviously blood-shot tear-filled eyes. Yup, he could ignore that-sort of. "But you're gonna be fine-Like, NORMAL, soon as Galen gets here. I'll make sure and yell at him for being late... then he'll zap you, and we'll all go home."

Flash put one hand carefully on one of Robs-as though he would break, though Flash knew better. He wasn't the 'touchy-feely' kind of person, but he cared about his friends.

Rob let his eyes stay closed, finally. Machinery covered fingers grasped Flash's wrist, as though he were a lifeline. *Click* *Whoosh* *Beep beep, beep beep*.

His chest tightened uncomfortably, and in a flash of panic, memories of the day surrounded him - glass walls crushing him. Panicked eyes were hidden behind closed lids.

Flash gulped rather loudly, and glanced around. "Hey, still here. Calm down. You're gonna be okay. Got it? Hear me? You listen, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, and you're not either." He figured, if he couldn't talk him into a state of calm, he'd have to take drastic measures, but he wasn't doing drastic unless he HAD to.

Rob tried for a snarky expression that got across his teasing without ever having to say it - in the moment, it was dull, and ended abruptly in another flash of worry and stab of chest squeezing-pressure.

Flash was about to say something more, when the door across the room opened itself, and Galen, looking angry, and tired, and worried, burst through it.

"IT's about time, Galen!" Flash stated with an expression of relief.

Galen looked distant, but nodded to Flash. He moved to the bedside, and his face was a mask of emotions. "Drugs? He's drugged." Galen sounded angry.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, but that was kinda the only option. I'll go?" Flash asked quietly.

Galen blinked up at him. He knew Flash was right. "Thank you." He'd been away for hours, and Rob would have died, but he didn't... Thanks to Flash, Mike, and Rhiannon. He didn't wait for Flash to leave before he put a hand over his brother's heart, bracing himself for the pain he knew he would feel, then let the Healing flow from him to Rob.

Rob leaned into the touch, feeling what was left of the broken bond opening. Soft light flooded him, flaring behind his eyes, mending a battered body. Yet still the Pacemaker continued, seemingly a forever artificial drumming inside of him - he wondered if it would cause problems, now. But hey, if he drank too much coffee again, at least he had an implanted defibrillator, easy access, no-hospital required. Somewhere in the back of his mind he snorted dryly.

He felt like he could breathe again. But that would be hard, considering. The pressure inside his chest lessened, easing off.

Rob's eyes opened, blearily meeting green ones. His hand maneuvered around the tubes and wires, weakly gripping the hand on his chest. Galen? He reached through their once-strong link. 'Galen?'

For the first time in several months, Galen actually heard his brother's voice through the bond. 'Yeah, Rob. I'm here.' He figured that was probably obvious, but he said it anyway. He could feel the healing forcing the drugs away-the distant haze was leaving. He knew he'd have to get Rob home-and there would have to be changes; changes that Rob wouldn't like. But it had to be that way...


	5. Chapter 5

Arguing voices brought him to. The voices were rough, like... Ah. Dor and Dera. Rob pried his eyes open one at a time, memories coming back to him.

He was home.

After much, um, ahem, discussion between Galen and Mike, Mike had finally released Rob. That had been about, well, Rob had no idea how long in fact - all he remembered was being helped inside the shop, then healing sleep.

And now.

He woke to a distant ache nestled into his heart. His throat was sore from the ventilator, his body going through withdrawal from lack of coffee... Coffee. He'd heard what Mike had said about cutting back on the caffeine. Rob groaned, picking his head up only to let it drop back down onto the pillow.

He moaned again, a long complaint. "Galen?" he tried, his voice a squeaky cracking sound. "Galen?"

Galen's head popped around the open door. He'd been in and out of the shop, checking on Rob, then going to help customers. He had Rhiannon helping, so he didn't have to be there every moment.

"Hey," he said quietly as he walked in, crossing the room and sitting at the edge of the bed. He looked tired, and worried, and irritated. He was irritated. But he figured he'd keep that bit back... for a while. "You've been out for almost twenty-four hours straight, Brat."

"That's because I haven't had coffee." Rob's voice held more complaint. He threw an arm over his eyes. "I feel like I was trampled on by elephants. Can I just have one? One cup? Please?" Rob gave his best attempt at puppy-eyes.

Galen knew his younger sibling was suffering without coffee-after all, it really was addicting. But Rob shouldn't have become so addicted in the first place. Still, with that expression, Rob almost had him giving in.

Finally, Galen pulled a face and rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable." He took a moment to keep himself from saying something he didn't mean, then spoke. "No. No. NO. You know, coffee got you sent to the HOSPITAL. Coffee almost got you-US-killed. AND did I mention that you nearly killed Flash with worry? No. Not. Even. One. Heart Arrhythmia, Rob. You know what that means... or do I have to explain it? Because I can, and I will." He stared, waiting for Rob's response.

Rob sighed, and grew serious. "Galen - I'm sorry." Rob frowned, "I've never felt something like that, I..." he trailed off. "It's always been 'things that the night fears that tend to get me," he tried for a grin.

Galen rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, normally. Or guys with baseball bats." He winced at the mention of what had brought them back together after ten years of him being "dead". Rob had almost been killed, and... needless to say, it hadn't been a "normal" family reunion.

"Really, I don't even remember that, I just remember waking up." Rob sighed contentedly as he sank into the bed, managing to fight away some of the pressure in his head.

"When you were attacked, there was this dream... Never mind." Galen waved one hand dismissively, then slowly sneaked it over Rob's heart, letting more Healing flow to him, as he'd been doing the past day on and off.

Rob moved closer to the touch, "Thank you." A sudden thought hit him. He pried open one of his eyes once more. "Is Flash here?"

Galen nodded. "Couldn't make him leave if I tried."

Rob nodded, and uncomfortably started shifting. He managed to get his hands underneath him, and pushed his upper body upwards - yet his arms were trembling horribly and threatening to dump him back down. "Help me up?" he asked, sounding like the thirteen-year-old again.

Galen considered denying this request as well, but decided against it. He put his right arm under Rob's left, and pulled him up, then waited for his brother to stabilize, as he hadn't been upright in a while.

Dizziness washed over Rob, and he ignored it. After what felt like an eternity of wobbly-walking, they were in the main part of the shop. "Flash?"

Galen walked with him, making sure he didn't fall and kill them both in the process. When they reached the shop, Rhiannon crossed the room, hugged Rob, and stated, "You gave us all quite a scare. It's good to see you up again." Before she could get a reply, the shop door opened, and a customer came in. Rhiannon mumbled something under her breath and rushed back to the counter to deal with the person.

Flash heard the commotion and came trundling around a shelf. "You!" he stated, pointing an accusing finger at Rob. "You!" He tried again with the same result as he headed toward him.

Galen hushed Flash, and pointed at the customer. Flash waved a hand at Galen and frowned, then smiled, and nodded.

Rob grinned. "Yeah, me. Tell me you're not siding with Galen, all I'm asking for is one coffee," he shared his burdens, and gave Galen a half-hearted glare that ended in another wide smile.

"Oh yeam I'm siding with Galen. No coffee, even if it means tying you down," Flash stated.

Galen for his part, glared at Rob for even asking, though he knew that Flash was with him on this.

Rob looked indignant. After a moment, he moved his arm from around Galen's shoulders - tried not to topple over - and hugged Flash, adding in a back-pat.

"Ooomph..." Flash "complained" but even as he muttered how he hated hugs, he grinned and returned the gesture. He pulled back and looked into slate-blue eyes. "Told you you'd live."

"I knew I would - I was crying for the nurses that were going to have to deal with you." Rob was beaming impishly.

"Yup, I know. Or was it for those B. S. stories I was telling?" Flash grinned brightly.

Galen only groaned. "What did he tell you?"

"All the good ones!" Flash grinned, knowing he'd actually missed a few.

Rob quirked an eyebrow. "You still never finished the story about Galen vs. Greg vs. Truck."

He winced at discomfort inching into his chest, and fought to catch his breath.

Galen moved to Rob's side, and put a hand on his shoulder, letting the Healing flow to Rob. He stayed there. "You will NOT tell him about the Truck Vs. Greg. Vs. Me incident. In fact, you will forget it ever happened." Galen gave Flash a death glare.

Flash grinned. "What? It's not like he SHOULDN'T know... He's your brother. Besides, he already heard Galen Vs. Bass." Flash chuckled. Galen didn't.

Rob laughed softly. "You nearly killed me with that story, I hope you know that."

Flash smirked. "But at least I was amusing."

"One of these days, you'll amuse yourself into a corner, and there won't be any witnesses, Flash," Galen stated.

"Yikes." Flash grimaced.

Rob grimaced for different reasons. He leaned against his brother.

"Okay, back upstairs." Galen's announcement had Flash nodding in agreement.

"Need anything?"

"No, go home. Sleep," Galen stated, giving Flash a tired smile.

"Okay, right on. I'll be back in a few hours."

Galen nodded, then turned, walking with Rob, back up to the apartment over the shop.

Rob was deposited on the bed again. "Thank you." The younger brother let his head fall onto the pillow.

He knew how close it had been. He had felt it - death. He had died. Again.

"Galen?" he whispered, voice dead, headache back full force.

"Hmm?" He held a hand over Rob's heart and looked into tired blue eyes.

"Will you stay?"

Galen nodded. "Yeah, Brat."

Rob smiled. Then there was nothing - nothing and calming silver light.

**Thank y ou for reading! God bless.**


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